Tuesday, September 11, 2018

We Will Never Forget…

Just as it is for many others, every single detail of my day on September 11, 2001 will be forever ingrained in my mind. 

I remember…

… Parking my little maroon Honda Accord in the parking lot of my hometown university and reveling in the glory of the cloudless, deep blue sky that was overhead as I walked to class.  It was a gorgeous morning right at the start of my very favorite four months of the year and everything around me seemed to whisper a promise that it was going to be a lovely day.

… Barely getting settled in my seat for my 9 AM sophomore health class when one of my old friends from high school burst in the room saying that one of the twin towers had been struck by a jet.

… Thinking how awful that sounded and discussing it a little bit with the professor but proceeding with class, business as usual, because nobody quite knew the severity of the situation just yet.

… Learning that another jet had struck the other tower as I walked across campus to my Microeconomics class and wondering how on earth it could have happened twice. 

… Hearing the words “possible terrorist attack” for the first time from my Microeconomics professor and quietly calling my Mom from my cell phone while hiding under my desk in class.  I was anxious to know what was going on and, of course, nobody had internet on their phones back then.

… Listening to our professor cancel class and the university announce that they were setting up extra televisions all around campus so students could stay informed.

… Watching the coverage with a bunch of other students on a TV that had been wheeled into the library and feeling completely horrified, confused, and helpless as I watched the events unfold.

… Feeling relieved when my afternoon class was canceled because all I wanted to do was go home and be with my family. 

… Stopping by the movie theater (where I worked as an assistant manager) on the way home and discussing what to do with all of the Spiderman movie trailers and posters that were plastered all around the building.  They all featured the twin towers so we wanted to be respectful.  (They were ultimately pulled by the movie company and all of them had to be sent back.)

… Heading home and changing into my turquoise wrap top and gray pants to get ready for the special mass that our church had arranged due to the day’s events.

… Attending mass with my Momma and brothers and crying most of the way through it.  We sat in a different spot than we normally do… I’m not really sure why we did, but I will always remember that.

… Stopping by our favorite local diner to grab dinner on the way home from church but barely touching anything on my plate because I wasn’t hungry.

… Sitting on the couch all. night. long. with a box of tissues at my right side and watching the news coverage and crying right along side my Mom, my brothers, and Peter Jennings.

… Feeling sad that my Daddy was not able to be with us all night because he was in the newspaper industry which meant he had to work around the clock during major news events.

… Feeling so devastated for all of the people who had been directly affected by the tragedies of the day and feeling sad for our country. 

… Feeling so grateful to not have been directly affected by the tragedies of the day and feeling grateful that I had a place to sleep that was safe and warm. 

I still lived with my parents at that point, but I was in college and working full-time, so I rarely ever spent time just sitting around in the living room with them because I was so busy and rarely at home.  That day changed everything, though.  It made us slow down, reflect on our blessings, and just BE together.

Where were you on that fateful day?

We will never forget.



17 comments:

  1. It is so strange now to remember what life was like before 9/11. I don't even think I ever thought about terrorists or a danger on our own soil before that date. I was a high school teacher pregnant with my first baby when it happened. A scary day!

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  2. Such a tragic day. I’m like you I can still remember every detail of that day.

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  3. Thank you, Lindsay for this beautiful post. I also remember being in my economics class at 9 am. At first, there were just whispers in our lecture about something happening. Later, we learned the gravity of the situation. Our professor later sent an email apologizing that had she known the extent of what happened she would have canceled lecture. I also remember when classes resumed , I was in Spanish class and a pair of fighter jets flew right over us and the class went silent with fear. Our teacher looked at us and stopped class and asked if we wanted to continue. I remember going into my sorority house and watching news coverage all day. Such a tragic day. Thank you for remembering such a horrific day in our history and pausing to reflect. Love how real you are

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    1. Oh gosh, I bet it was a scary moment when those fighter jets flew over. It was definitely a tragic day. I can't believe it's already been 17 years... it truly seems like it was just yesterday. And thank you for your sweet comment about me being real. Being authentic is something that I strive for in this space so comments like yours are always encouraging. Thank you for stopping by. <3

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  4. This was fantastic and put your thoughts on this horrific tragedy into perspective so well. I had a TV in my office at work, I saw and I immediately ran down the hall to my mom's office just to oddly make sure she was ok because I was that scared. Then called the sitter. Saddens my heart to the core.

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  5. I was in 9th grade I believe. I was in german class and we watched it unfold as it was happening. This was a beautiful tribute post. We WILL NEVER forget!

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  6. I remember so many details from that day as well. I was a senior in high school. I just remember everything being so quiet and still while we watched the news all day. I remember so much of that day. Random side note, I also had a maroon Accord.

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  7. I feel like I just relived your day with you! I was in high school - and I just don't think I fully understood what happened. I think they turned the TVs on for us, and a classmate of mine - her mom was on a flight that day, going to Atlanta actually, and there was a period of time when we didn't really know what was going on, and just hoping that she was ok!

    One of my co-workers now, was actually one of the first on scene. To hear her talk about it, just gives you chills.

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  8. Such a tragic day! I remember it so well too. I was a senior at LSU in my super early media research class and then walked into my media lab class and the teacher had CNN on and we watched the second plane hit. The guy next to me said, "I bet it was that Bin Laden guy" I had never heard that name before and still to this day some 21 year old kid knew that. My grandparents were in New York and flying home that day and we were so scared for them. They were safe thank goodness. Never forget!

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  9. A day that no one will forget, ever. It's heartbreaking. I love that your church arranged a special mass!

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  10. Such a monumental day. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing too. A girl from my class her mother worked in the building and thankfully made it out ok. She was screaming and crying running up and down our hallways. I tried explaining things to the boys this morning since it was all over the radio, but the reality is, they just won't have the same feelings towards it as we do.

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  11. We must have visited the same time of year...my picture on IG today looks very similar to yours. I was pregnant with Dillon and just remember driving to work as the first plane struck. Once I got to work we were watching as the 2nd plane plowed into the bldg and I remember how solemn everyone was but nothing at all prepared us for seeing those bldgs crumble.

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  12. I'll never forget either! My parents moved from NYC just days before the attacks. They visited the twin towers just a week before. I'll never forget my mom's phone call that my dad was not in the city and my parents were all right!

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  13. I was sitting on my couch with my son who had just turned one a few weeks prior nursing him watching the news. I sat frozen as they cut to clips of the planes hitting with tears streaming down my face. My husband had just come back from a run and I could barely speak. I composed myself enough to call my Mom and tell her you better wake Daddy who was a photographer at our local paper. As I cradled my milk drink baby I told my husband his world will never be the same.

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    1. You are so right. The world that our children are growing up in is definitely different than the world in which you and I were raised. So much sadness these days. We can only pray that eventually it will all turn around. Thank you for stopping by. xo

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  14. I was at home...but we lived so close to NYC we could see the smoke. It was scary.

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  15. It was my senior year, and I was in 2nd period. We had a lock down drill before classes changed as the principal tried to decide what to do. He ended up coming on the announcements, and our teacher turned on the TV as we watched the second tower get hit, and the towers fall to the ground. I also remember walking home that day, and that it was a completely cloudless day, and how strange it was to see no planes.

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